2021 Toyota Avalon TRD refills the fountain of youth
That started to vary with the final Avalon, and within the present technology the TRD (the acronym for Toyota Racing Improvement) version signifies extra progress in turning the full-size sedan into one thing with a measurable pulse.
We knew what it felt like on a monitor. However what’s it like on the highway? Every week spent hurtling out of lockdown’s penumbra tells us extra clearly how the 2021 Avalon TRD desires to point out it might probably sustain with the youthful technology. It is nip right here, tuck there, vitamin pictures throughout.
It could make you groan at first cross, however deep down and in a while, you admit it’s…good. It is the dad joke of sedans.
Here is the place these punchlines landed—and the place they fell flat.
Hit: It’s a passing machine. The Toyota Avalon does not want any extra energy than it already has, and TRDs do not get anymore. Nice. Is 301 hp sufficient for you? It’s. Even in non-TRD kind the Avalon’s a passing machine, capable of flip down a couple of gears of its marvelous 8-speed automated and choose off stray Priuses like a predator doing us an evolutionary favor. Shift paddles sit in wait of your attentive contact. The eccentricities are few however stark: The TRD does not get the adaptive dampers or the Sport+ drive mode discovered within the Avalon Touring. Whahuh?
Hit: It is alive. The little burping and pinging off idle? It is one thing referred to as exhaust noise. House owners of older Avalons could be momentarily frightened by the growly sound, however the cat-back exhaust lends the V-6 a throatier howl, from a rumbling at idle to a refined ripple beneath full acceleration. Flick the gasoline. Stay just a little.
Hit: Rounded-up dealing with. It would be simple to spoil the Avalon’s placid trip with a standard metal suspension, however it does not occur right here. The Avalon sits a few half-inch decrease in TRD kind, and adopts stiffer entrance and rear shocks, and will get stronger underbody bracing. The Avalon TRD additionally rides on 19 x 8.5-inch alloy wheels, up a half-inch in width over the Avalon Touring. We’d hesitate in calling it agile, however the Avalon TRD’s flatter responses and exact if not touchy-feeling steering is a breath of pure oxygen in comparison with the chromed-up Avalon sleep chamber we drove for the primary time within the early 2000s. The somnolent impact’s nonetheless sporting off from that one.
Miss: TRD drag units it up for failure. My automobile confirmed up with chalk-gray paint and crimson brake calipers. You understand, like a Porsche 911 Turbo S. The Avalon cabin bristled with lipstick-red stitching and TRD headrest logos and crimson seat belts, and its track-time teases do not play out in actual time. The expectations soar above the truth. (Would we order ours in that scheme? Completely.)
Hit: All-day seats. Not each sporty automobile wants carbon-fiber racing shells to get its level throughout. The Avalon TRD’s entrance buckets have deep however mushy bolsters and plenty of adjustment. The Avalon TRD may not be capable to overcome an S7 on a monitor, however it might probably outmaneuver average arthritis.
Miss: We won’t work out our emotions. The Avalon TRD prices $43,255, about $200 greater than a extra acceptable feeling Avalon Touring. The latter does not ship any combined indicators; the TRD’s nothing however crossed wires and static. We won’t assist however find it irresistible anyway. It is a sweeping interstate cruiser and a Tupperware container for the misspent leftovers of our 20s. It does not should exist, and possibly nobody would miss it if it did not stick round. However the 2021 Avalon TRD’s a great reminder that youth does not should be wasted fully on the younger.
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2021 Toyota Avalon TRD
Base value: $43,255, together with vacation spot
Worth as examined: $43,255
Drivetrain: 301-hp 3.5-liter V-6 with an 8-speed automated and front-wheel drive
EPA gas economic system: 21/30/25 mpg
The hits: All-day seats, NFL-grade passing means, rounded-up dealing with
The misses: Hardcore particulars, normcore {hardware}
